Detroit Pizza Takes Over New York

Chef couple Emily and Matt Hyland are turning New Yorkers onto the underappreciated pleasures of Detroit-style pizza. Discover why the square pie, with its chewy center and ultra crispy crust, is quickly becoming the city's new favorite pizza.

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By By Martin Sanchez. Photography courtesy of Emily Bolles

Jul 1, 2016

In New York, a city where pizza is taken very seriously—from the dollar slice to the wood-fired Neopolitan variety—it's a pretty big compliment when yours is rated one of the best. Such is the case with husband-and-wife team Matt and Emily Hyland whose restaurant, Emily, in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, specializes in the Neopolitan style. But for their latest project, the Hylands are branching away from this ubiquitous pizza style. At their new restaurant in Williamsburg, Emmy Squared, they've found another love: the square, Detroit pie.

The Emmy: mozzarella, banana peppers, onions, and housemade ranch.

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"We always knew we wanted to do square," Emily says of how she and Matt landed on the restaurant concept. "We were making square pizza at home all the time, so that's where we found ourselves headed."

The sleek, new Emmy Squared.

Contrary to what you might think, Emily and Matt are not from Detroit—nor is the restaurant's chef-partner, Lou Tomczak. In fact, the way they discovered Detroit-style pizza was more of a happy accident.

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You can't go wrong with a side of crispy cheddar curds.

Experimenting with grandma-style pies (which are also square, but thinner because of the pan they're prepared in), Emily and Matt happened upon the perfect formula. "We decided we wanted to cook the pizza in a pan to get that really cheesy, fried-crust edge," Emily says. But they later realized those are the distinguishing hallmarks of a quality Detroit pie. "So we fine-tuned our focus, really looking at what components make Detroit-style pizza special."

Getting a Moscow Mule at the bar isn't a bad idea, either.

So what are those distinguishing features? The recipe includes baking the pizza in a deeper pan, which results in that cheesy, crunchy crust. It also gives the pie a crisp bottom and airy middle, similar to focaccia bread. Finished with two parallel stripes of sauce poured down the middle over the cheese, it has a near perfect bread-to-sauce ratio.

Check out those signature stripes running down the middle.

One bite of an Emmy Squared pie, and you'll begin to wonder how this pizza has been overlooked for so long. The good news is that it's finally getting its due.

Get on the Detroit-style trend before anyone else! Continue on for a special recipe straight from kitchen of Emmy Squared.

Everyone loves pizza, but not everyone knows about Detroit pies. Don't leave your friends out of the loop!